Judge: Indictment For JonBenet Ramsey’s Parents Should Be Public

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BOULDER, Colo. (CBS4)- A judge said the grand jury indictment of JonBenet Ramsey’s parents should be made public.

The district attorney of Boulder at the time decided not to prosecute John and Patsy Ramsey.

The six-year-old’s body was found in the basement of her family’s home in Boulder on Christmas day 1996. JonBenet was found during a police search of the home, about eight hours after she was reported missing. She had been struck on the head and strangled. The case remains unsolved.

Now the current district attorney will have to make his case as to why that indictment should not be released. Experts believe the ruling may be that the judge is leaning toward making the indictment public.

“I think one of the things we can learn is what is all of the evidence that was there, what type of investigation was done, what did the witnesses have to say and is there any possibility that we are ever going to achieve justice for JonBenet,” said CBS4 Legal Analyst and former prosecutor Karen Steinhauser.

Steinhauser has no connection to the case.

The Boulder County DA is fighting to keep the indictment from being released and submitted this statement: “In most instances release of grand jury information is a criminal act. The district attorney’s top priority is assuring that this office complies with the law.”

Steinhauser said that in this case that information could become public, “We have this issue where the grand jury said there should be an indictment, there was an indictment and the DA didn’t sign off on it and that the public has an interest in finding out why not and what happened during those proceedings and what the evidence was.”

Attorneys arguing for the release agree and called the judge’s ruling on the indictment a reasoned decision based on good law and are calling for the release.

Both sides do agree that this is uncharted territory. The DA’s office said they are reviewing the ruling and will determine how to respond by the middle of next week.